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Sunday, February 6, 2011

Oh, I wanted to love this one. I really did. I loved Listening for Lions. And have actually convinced several students to read that one and enjoy it. (I have the WORST time getting kids at my school to read historical fic ... I really do. And I can't figure out why because I really do try to get some of the best and booktalk them and hey, they listen to me when I'm recommending mystery or fantasy ... but I digress.)

Really, maybe, as an adult read four stars. Because it really is quite good. I think maybe the intended audience is a little off. Kids (most of them, anyway) are not going to "get" this book. They will miss the beauty in all of the small acts of amazing courage. They will probably not have heard of Ghandi. They won't know where India is or what it meant that Britain held control for so long.

I jotted down a couple of beautiful lines but as they are from the ARC so I suppose I'd better wait to post them.

Worth reading, definitely. Just know that if you are a teacher it may need to be a read aloud and you may need to spend some time building of background knowledge beforehand.